Focusing attention on the employment and the economic development impact of green infrastructure projects can help build broader constituencies of support for smart investments. Green For All will walk participants through some of the latest data, examples, tools and resources related to tracking and communicating the job creation potential of stormwater and green infrastructure projects. We will discuss emerging best practices, review findings and themes from our ongoing work, and equip practitioners with talking points and strategies for their own work.

2. • JOBS FRAME IMPACT ON GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE
• GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS
IMPACT ON LOW-INCOME WORKERS
• COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES USING
A JOBS FRAME
• DISCUSSION

3. F O C U S O N J O B S TO B U I L D S U P P O RT F O R
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
JOBS FRAME
INCLUSIVE
OPPORTUNITY & BROADER
CONSTITUENCIES OF
“HIGH ROAD” SUPPORT
OUTCOMES
FAIR AND EFFECTIVE
JOBS AND ECONOMIC
POLICY AND FINANCE
DEVELOPMENT
SOLUTIONS
INCREASED
INVESTMENT IN
STORMWATER +
GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE

4. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE = JOBS
JOBS!
JOBS!
JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!

5. G R E E N I N F R A S T R U C T U R E R E L AT E D J O B S
Installation and Operations and Supply Chain
Design Maintenance • Nursery and greenhouse
• Landscape architect • Landscapers workers
• Engineers • Auditors • Horticulturists
• Plumbers • Plumbers • Civil and environmental
• Contractors • Janitors and cleaners engineers
• Construction workers • Truck drivers
• Urban planners • Stock clerks
• Construction and
building inspectors

6. JOB IMPACTS OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
• Philadelphia’s $1.6 Billion investment in stormwater infrastructure has the
potential to generate 15,266 green collar direct jobs and nearly $7.4 billion in
sales through the green stormwater infrastructure supply chain.¹
• In Northeast Ohio, 31,000 direct jobs could be created between 2012-2016
from a $3 billion in stormwater infrastructure.²
• Montgomery County, Maryland expects to employ 3,300 workers over the next
3 years building its new network of green stormwater controls.³
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that an investment
of $1.88 Billion is required to manage stormwater and preserve
water quality across the US. Our Water Works report calculates
that spreading this investment over five years would generate $265
Billion in economic activity and create close to 1.9 million
jobs.⁴

7. JOB IMPACTS OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
• Investments of $166 million in stormwater projects between 2009-2011 in
Los Angeles produced an estimated 2,075 total jobs.⁵
• PlaNYC anticipates the creation of 266 total jobs from investing $23 million in
green roofs and 1,446 direct jobs from a $346 million investment in watershed
protection programs.⁶
• Installing green roofs on 5% of Chicago’s buildings would create 7,934 jobs
from an investment of $403 million.⁷

8. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS
= LOCAL JOBS
• 74% of $165 Million recently invested in stormwater projects in Los Angeles
County was spent locally⁸
• 73% of workers involved in Los Angeles’ stormwater projects were employed
by businesses located within the county, and many of the most frequently
hired occupations employed a higher percentage of county residents⁹
“Public money used for green infrastructure has the
potential to create more opportunities locally than
money spent on gray infrastructure.”
Janet Clements, Stratus Consulting

9. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS
= O P P O RT U N I T Y
Green Infrastructure Jobs
Accessible jobs: Typically requiring a high school
education or less
Good jobs: Many offering a family-supporting wage
Protected jobs: With considerable numbers of
unionized occupations
Career ladder jobs: Many offering advancement
opportunities through apprenticeships and training

10. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS
= L O W E N T RY B A R R I E R S
Installation O&M Supply Chain
and Design • Landscapers • Nursery and
• Plumbers • Auditors greenhouse
• Contractors • Plumbers workers
• Construction • Janitors • Truck drivers
Workers • Meter readers • Stock clerks

11. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS
= CAREER LADDERS
Occupation Starting Wage Average Wage % of Workers with
H.S. Diploma or less
Tree trimmers & pruners $10.47 $15.80 88%
Roofers $13.76 $21.83 86%
Landscape worker $9.00 $13.65 78%
Construction worker $10.62 $19.27 62%
Mgrs. of Construction
$20.80 $35.04 61%
trades
Mgrs. Of Landscaping
$12.82 $24.27 55%
workers
Installation maintenance
$8.84 $14.87 45%
& repair workers
Source: Economic Roundtable Analysis, Los Angeles County Water Sector Occupational Data (2010-
2011)

12. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS
= R E D U C E D L E V E L S O F S O C I E TA L
COSTS
A study of Philadelphia’s
traditional and green
infrastructure options for
controlling CSO events found
that hiring an unemployed
person to do green infrastructure
results in an estimated $10,000
per person/per year in avoided
societal costs of poverty.¹⁰

13. L O C A L E X A M P L E : G E N E R AT I O N WAT E R
WATER EFFICIENCY AUDIT AND IRRIGATION SYSTEM SURVEY TEAMS
Team Workers Hourly Wage Daily Wages
Field Manager 1 $18 $144
Data Supervisor 1 $14 $112
GIS Analyst 1 $9.50 $76
Field Team Members 5 $8 $320
Total 8 $652
POTENTIAL IF BROUGHT TO SCALE
Total
Number of sites in LA 4,133
Possible Person Days 53,048
Total Possible Wages $34,587,296
Source: Generation Water, Economic Roundtable analysis

14. L A C O U N T Y I M PA C T S
PER $1 MILLION SPENT
Direct Indirect Induced Total
Employment Employment Employment Employment
Stormwater Projects 6.6 2.4 4.0 13.1
1 Year O&M in
7.4 2.4 4.0 13.8
Stormwater Projects
Direct Sales Indirect Sales Induced Sales Total Sales
(Output) (Output) (Output) (Output)
Stormwater Projects $1,000,000 $408,934 $583,740 $1,992,674
1 Year O&M in
$1,000,000 $426,970 $562,089 $1,989,059
Stormwater Projects
Source: Economic Roundtable Analysis, Los Angeles County Water Sector Occupational Data (2010-
2011)

16. MESSAGING BUILDING BLOCKS
Deliver
Celebrate
Focus on Communicate
local
jobs success!
success
Emphasize
innovation
Appeal to
the future

17. THE GREEN ECONOMY IS SUCCESSFUL!
• Green job growth outpaced The Clean Economy Compared with
Other Sectors of the U.S. Economy
traditional job growth in urban
centers 2-1 between 2008-2010¹¹ 4.8
Millions of Jobs
• Inner-city green jobs grew at 10
times the rate of jobs overall in 2.4 2.7
the last decade¹² 1.4
• 45% of all green jobs in the US
are held by people with a high
school diploma or less¹³
• 2011 clean energy investments in
the United States experienced a
42% increase from the previous
year¹⁴
Source: Brookings: Sizing the Green Economy (2011)

18. GREEN SUCCESS HAS BEEN
OVERSHADOWED BY CONTROVERSY
GREEN BECAME POLITICAL J O B S D I D N O T M E E T E X P E C TAT I O N S

19. M A N A G E E X P E C TAT I O N S
“It is important that the
data and stories you
provide are
local, scalable, conc
rete and believable.”
Source: Spitfire Strategies

20. L I N K C L E A N J O B S W I T H C R E AT I N G A
BETTER WORLD
F O R F U T U R E G E N E R AT I O N S
Before After
Hunts Point Riverside Park Redevelopment (South Bronx, NY)

21. E M P H A S I Z E I N N O VAT I O N !
• Innovation message
counteracts regulation =
“Job Killer” myth
• Evokes sentiment of
American leadership
and technological
advancement
• Market shows
innovation is a sellable
amenity with customers

22. TWO-PRONGED APPROACH
TRADITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

23. F I V E P R I N C I PA L S F O R C O M M U N I C AT I N G
A B O U T WAT E R I N F R A S T R U C T U R E :
1. Define problems, but always follow them with solutions
2. Detail the co-benefits: public health, public safety, and jobs
3. Capitalize on public support for conservation and recycling
4. Talk about fixing what we already have, rather than
dramatically expanding it
5. Beware of hyper-technical language
Source: David Metz, FM3 and Barry Barnes, TBWB Strategies

24. M E S S A G E S TO U S E A N D AV O I D
Messages to Use Messages to Avoid
Green jobs are part of the solution Green jobs are THE solution
American ingenuity will produce jobs Government will produce jobs
We are creating additional jobs and
Green jobs vs other jobs
expanding the economy
Protections, safeguards, innovation Regulation
Protecting the environment minimizes You have to choose, clean environment
the challenges our children will have to or economic development
face
“These are the jobs America needs right now!”
Source: Spitfire Strategies

25. E F F E C T I V E C O M M U N I C AT I O N B U I L D S
S U P P O RT F O R “ H I G H R O A D ” O U T C O M E S
JOBS FRAME
INCLUSIVE
OPPORTUNITY & BROADER
CONSTITUENCIES OF
“HIGH ROAD” SUPPORT
OUTCOMES
FAIR AND EFFECTIVE
JOBS AND ECONOMIC
POLICY AND FINANCE
DEVELOPMENT
SOLUTIONS
INCREASED
INVESTMENT IN
STORMWATER +
GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE

26. “ H I G H R O A D ” S T R AT E G I E S
= QUALITY WORK
Increase demand for Ensure job quality and
green goods and equitable access to
services opportunity
GREEN HIGH ROAD
GROWTH STANDARDS
CAREER BUSINESS
Create workforce PATHWAYS CAPACITY
training pipelines that Support businesses
connect vulnerable that want to thrive in
people to green jobs a high-road market

27. Jeremy Hays Alvaro Sanchez Sanchez
Chief Strategist For Senior Associate
State And Local Initiatives State and Local Initiatives
Green For All Green For All
Jeremy@greenforall.org Alvaro@greenforall.org
Telephone: 503.333.2343 Telephone: 510.217.9828
S P E C I A L T H A N K S TO
To download a copy of this PowerPoint or for more information visit us
at: http://greenforall.org/focus/water/

28. REFERENCES
1. GSP Consulting and Ecolibrium Group, “Capturing the Storm: Profits, Jobs, and Training in Philadelphia’s Stormwater Industry” (2010)
2. Green For All, “Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment” (2011)
3. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, “Debunking the “Job Killer” Myth: How Pollution Limits Encourage Jobs in the Chesapeake Bay Region” (2011)
4. Green For All, “Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment” (2011)
5. Burns, Patrick and Flaming, Daniel, Economic Roundtable. Water Use Efficiency and Jobs (2011)
6. The Louis Berger Group, Analysis of Job Creation in PlaNYC Final Report (2008)
7. American Rivers and Alliance for Water Efficiency, Creating Jobs and Stimulating the Economy through Investment in Green Water
Infrastructure (2008)
8. Burns, Patrick and Flaming, Daniel, Economic Roundtable. Water Use Efficiency and Jobs (2011)
9. Burns, Patrick and Flaming, Daniel, Economic Roundtable. Water Use Efficiency and Jobs (2011)
10. Stratus Consulting, “A Triple Bottom Line Assessment of Traditional and Green Infrastructure Options for Controlling CSO Events in
Philadelphia's Watersheds” (2009)
11. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2012/04/20/11421/green-jobs-help-the-planet-and-communities-of-color/
12. http://www.theplasticfreetimes.com/news/11/02/07/apollo-alliance-inner-city-green-job-growth-and-transportation-field-hearings
13. http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2011/07/13-clean-economy
14. http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/compilations/whos-winning-the-clean-energy-race-2011-edition-85899380963
Interview with Janet Clements, Stratus Consulting, regarding a recent completed study of Washington DC’s gray and green stormwater investments
and their job potential (2012)
Barns, Barry and Metz, David, FM3 and TBWB Strategies, Building Public Support for Water and Green Infrastructure (2012)
Spitfire Strategies, Green Jobs Research and Recommendations, Surdna Foundation (2011)
Lake, Celinda and Voss, Jonathan, Lake Research Partners, Green Jobs Research, Surdna Foundation (2012)

29. IMAGE CREDITS
Slide 1: Generation Water
Slide 4: YES Magazine
Slide 5: Green Train Landscaping & Urban Ecology: Workforce Training Program (GLUE) and OLIN
Slide 7: gudemangardens.com/green-roofs/
Slide 10: Green Train Landscaping & Urban Ecology: Workforce Training Program (GLUE)
Slide 12: motherearthnews.com/grow-it/seed-swap-MEN-fair-zb0z10zsto.aspx
Slide 13: Generation Water
Slide 18: Getty Images and markosun.wordpress.com
Slide 19: greenenergyohio.org
Slide 20: dipity.com and majoracartergroup.com
Slide 21: gm-volt.com
Slide 22: Water Works Report, Green For All and Jay Janner, http://photoblog.statesman.com/dry-season-the-texas-drought-of-2011